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Dilpa’s Story….

One morning, Dilpa who is one of our lovely web team didn’t turn up for work … we soon found out why. Read on to hear her remarkable birth story. We in the Battersea design and marketing office can’t wait to meet little baby Amba once she is back home ….

December 2011 – Our dearest baby girl was delivered by an emergency C-section due to pre-eclampsia. My first pregnancy was pretty straight-forward, I was very excited when I found out I was expecting and it was a complete miracle to get this far and to give our 9 year old son a sibling.

The pregnancy was going beautifully with minimal morning sickness. The 20 weeks routine scan showed that the baby was healthy. Everything was progressing well, with the only hiccup being raised blood pressure but at this stage I was thoroughly enjoying my growing baby bump. In the evenings after dinner was when the baby was most active I would watch my stomach contort into different shapes. Feeling great I planned to work as long as I possibly could.

From week 26 onwards things started to change. I noticed that my ankles and legs started to swell up, but I honestly didn’t think too much of it. According to my midwives and all the literature out there, it was considered normal, especially when my antenatal checks were perfect, apart from the blood pressure which was controlled by the medication.

At 28 weeks, I had a scheduled appointment with the obstetrician. He pointed out baby’s heart beat and carried on with the measurements. As the scan went on it became clear there was a problem. It was explained to me that the baby was 2 weeks behind in growth. I was put on a course of 4 doses of Cortisone steroids. The steroids would help strengthen the baby’s premature lungs in case I had to have an early birth.

At 29 weeks, I went into hospital for a routine blood pressure check. On arrival I was placed on to a CTG monitor, it took a few minutes to find the babies’ heart beat and in which time I was getting extremely anxious. My blood pressure was quite high, the blood test showed that my liver proteins were slightly elevated and that there was also protein in my urine. I was booked for an immediate scan to see how the baby was doing.

The registrar explained to me that I had reduced blood flow to the placenta and reduced amniotic fluid. I was developing pre-eclampsia and the baby’s birth weight was very low. Only a few minutes passed and he re-entered my room with a lot more people. It was explained that my baby was in severe distress and even though I was only 29 weeks I needed to have an emergency caesarean to attempt to save my baby. Immediately I was prepared for theatre, bloods taken, given the run down of the surgery and what was preparing to take place, signed the consent forms and wheeled down to the theatre. My husband only just made it to the hospital in time to see me before they proceeded with the surgery. All that was going through my mind was that my baby was critically ill and to see my child enter the world, regardless of the outcome.

It was such a relief when my beautiful baby girl Amba, was delivered on the 28th December 2011 at 17.48 pm. She was 29 + 5 weeks gestation, weighed 1040 grams. I did not even get to see her gorgeous little face as she was whisked down to the Newborn Care Unit.

Newborn Amba

I will be keeping you up to date on Amba’s progress along with the highs and lows of having a baby in intensive care.

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3 comments for “Dilpa’s Story….”

Congratulations on the safe arrival of ur baby! I also suffered with pre-eclampsia in my second pregnancy. I was further along but it became very severe very quickly and i was in intensive care for 4 days. But my isobel was born at 35 weeks, perfectly healthy! All the best to you x

Dilpa , I hope you do not mind me saying what a remarkable story this is. We have had many customers in store over the years who have had Pre-eclampsia, all of whom have commented on how distressing and unpleasant it is. I hope they read your story and take comfort in the fact they are not alone in this.Do keep up us updated on Amba’s progress. Reading this post, you sound like a very strong woman and I am sure Amba is going to follow in her Mummy’s footsteps. On behalf of everyone out there in the Jo Jo stores many congratulations to you and your husband on the arrival little Amba. Best wishes X

Hi, it’s me, the daddy, but better described over the last three months as the nervous wreck.

If life was a rollercoaster this must be the part after queuing up for over an hour you’ve finally got in your seat, the ground beneath you looks a mile away, the trains travelled up a steep incline and your thundering down towards the ground, everyone’s screaming, your heart’s thumping and you hope you don’t go flying.

The last year had been a testing one for Dilpa, so it was pleasing for us all, that she was having so much fun in her new role at JoJo. Since her first day, we’ve had to endure endless but interesting stories about products, photo shoots, newsletters but especially her colleagues and what seemed like a constant bakery competition, food for thought I guess.

It was July, early one morning during the first week of the mammoth school summer holidays, when Dilpa announced that she could be pregnant. I remember being quite dismissive, It felt like our time had passed and we were in a settled routine with our 9 year old son; Shiv.

Once the penny dropped, we told Shiv whose reaction was similar to mine with regards to enthusiasm. We soon got used to the idea and we’re all extremely excited about our little secret. Gradually over time, we told our family, which in our culture can be a trying due to the numbers involved. Then there was the challenge of Dilpa telling her manager at JoJo, after days of deliberating she mustered enough courage to spill the beans. The reaction couldn’t have been better, everyone at work was supportive and over the moon with the news of a new JoJo baby.

Dilpa was hoping for a girl from day one, us boys were looking forward to adding to the male domination at home. Our reaction at the scan when we were told that we’re having a girl was a picture, a bit like the three wise monkeys. Over time we got used to the idea of an influx of pink dresses and cardigans, although girls can look great in blue and khaki too?

December was when the unexpected became the expected.

It had been almost 10 years since Dilpa gave birth to Shiv, and in general his birth was without complication. On 28/12/11, Dilpa was advised that she’ll have to deliver our daughter 12 weeks early, I remember being at work after a few days off for Christmas. Although there’d been lots of issues already, Dilpa had only gone to hospital for what we thought/hoped was a routine appointment. I couldn’t have imagined that later on that same day, we’d have a baby girl.

For weeks before the birth we’d deliberated about the name, we each had our preference. A couple of hours after the birth, I went to see our little treasure and sneaked a few pictures to report back to mummy. Within an instant we realised that Amba would be a perfect name for her, as well as being small and sweet like her, when interpreted, meant compassion. The care Amba and Dilpa received from day one has been fantastic, all the staff we’ve met, have shown a real interest in our concerns and problems.

For the last 7 weeks our daughter has been a permanent resident at the hospital. Although we visit several times a day, the care she receives around the clock gives us reassurance and hope. The staff are always genuinely interested in helping Dilpa and Amba progress to what we hope will be a beautiful journey together.

As you can imagine, this has been a stressful time in our lives, which without the support of our friends and families, and especially all the staff at the hospital, we probably wouldn’t have been able to remain so positive.

Hopefully soon, Shiv will get a glimpse of his baby sister and Amba can come home.